1. Field
This disclosure relates generally to a web browser and, more specifically to techniques for determining a web browser state.
2. Related Art
A web browser (hereinafter “browser”) is a software application that allows a user at a client computer system (hereinafter “client”) to display and interact with text, images, and other information located on a web page at a website (hosted by a web application server) on the world wide web or a local area network. Text and images on a web page may contain hyperlinks to other web pages at the same or different website. Browsers allow a user to quickly and easily access information provided on web pages at various websites by traversing hyperlinks. Browsers usually format hypertext markup language (HTML) information for display and, as such, an appearance of a web page may differ between browsers. A number of different browsers, e.g., Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Netscape, are currently available for personal computers. In general, browsers are the most commonly used type of hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) user agent. While browsers are typically used to access web application servers (hereinafter “web servers”) that are part of the world wide web, browsers can also be used to access information provided by web servers in private networks or content in file systems.
Asynchronous JavaScript™ and extensible markup language (XML) (AJAX) is a web development approach used for creating interactive web applications. AJAX attempts to make web pages more responsive by exchanging reduced amounts of data between a client browser and a web server, such that an entire web page does not usually have to be reloaded each time a user performs an action that requires a change in the web page displayed by the browser. AJAX is intended to increase interactivity, speed, functionality, and usability of a web page. AJAX function calls are made using the JavaScript™ programming language and data retrieved using AJAX is commonly formatted using extensible markup language (XML). AJAX is a cross-platform technology that is usable on many different operating systems (OSs), computer architectures, and browsers as AJAX is based on open standards, e.g., JavaScript™ and XML.